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Main Street Reconstruction Discussed at Pella City Council Meeting

The reconstruction of a portion of Main Street in Pella was addressed during the “Policy and Planning” portion of Tuesday night’s Pella City Council Meeting. The Council approved to start moving forward on the project, which will likely begin in the summer of 2010. Pella City Administrator Mike Nardini tells KNIA/KRLS News that the Council seemed in agreement that there was a real need for the work to be done.

“I think the consensus was, yes, there’s going to be temporary inconveniences, but the justification is based on the age of the infrastructure and the condition of the pavement,” says Nardini. “We need to proceed, and it’s not really a question of if this project is necessary, it’s when. I think [the] Council had that understanding and we’re ready to start taking official action on the project.”

According to plans, Main Street from Washington to Elm Street in Pella would be completely re-done, at a cost of approximately $1.8 million, with $1.1 million of that covered by Federal funds because the road has been identified as a Federal Aid Route. Nardini says the improvements to Main Street will make the inconvenience worth while

“If you look at that section of road, a lot of the curb is missing. We’re going to install eight-inch concrete, along with a six-inch curb. It’ll be a very nice-looking street by the time we’re done with it,” adds Nardini. “And we feel that the temporary inconveniences are well-justified and well worth it.”

A previously conducted pavement analysis of the 3700 foot long stretch showed that six of the seven blocks in that stretch were among the 21 worst arterial street segments in Pella. Additionally, the underlying water and sewer infrastructure is between 70 and 100 years old. An engineering agreement is expected to be in place early next month with bids on the project to be let in the early spring of 2010 and hopes for construction to start that summer.